Addressing the ‘You’re trying to get rid of me!’ response to board succession planning
It’s not about pushing out directors but making sure your board has a transition plan for inevitable turnover and identifying needed competencies.
Does everyone on the board of your organization understand the real purpose of board succession planning? If not, read this story about a common misconception regarding the purpose of board succession planning and how it can affect your board of directors.
You’re Trying to Get Rid of Me!
A few board members at an organization noticed that their board was beginning to age. They weighed their options and decided that they needed to start doing board succession planning. What the organization had been doing in the past was dealing with turnover as it happened. They were able to do this since a lot of the board members had served on the board for a long time, and very little turnover was happening. However, as the board continued to age, more turnover soon became inevitable.
When the topic of board succession planning arose, they got a lot of pushback from some board members who were worried that they were just trying to get rid of them. Finally, after much discussion, the board members who were pushing back on the idea relented. So, the board decided to hire a succession planning consultant to help them through the process.
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